“Yes. It’s a perfect time for a bath. A good distance away from my den, evening only a short while away.”
Delilah eyed him skeptically until she realized she was making a joke. One at her expense. And then she let loose and laughed, realizing he was trying to lighten the mood.
“I think I’ve learned my lesson the hard way, thank you. Which brings a good point, I should probably pack up these fibers. It’s a shame I didn’t finish twisting them because I’ll probably have to sort them all when we get back.”
“I’m sure you’ll do just fine, but perhaps next time you will finish your tasks before taking a lazy break,” he joked.
“A break? Is that what you call that? Hmph. Well, I hardly think that’s fair when you’re the one causing all the distractions with all your jokes,” she accused him, amusement written plain as day across her smiling face.
Skarde’s face lit up like the bright candle. No. Like the sun.
Several days ago, she would have sworn a friendly smile from a male would have made her run for the hills, but not this time. There was a glint in his eyes and a warmth to his laugh which only bathed her in comfort. She had a sinking suspicion if it were anyone else it wouldn’t have had the same effect, but somehow, for some reason, this male dulled away the pain and brought her such joy.
***
Eventually, they packed everything up, the fibers, the varduush and all the nuts and berries Delilah and Skarde picked along the way and headed back to their cave. By the time they arrived Delilah was exhausted and did nothing but lay down in her furs and watched Skarde prepare his varduush before he disappeared into the back of the cave.
“Where do you go?” she asked him when he finally returned with nothing in his hands.
“I have a spot where I stockpile my supplies so they do not rot. It is much cooler further back than it is here,” he responded kindly. Then he pierced several fish down its center and handed her the skewer.
Delilah sat up with her legs tucked beneath her bottom and held her food over the fire, occasionally turning it so she could cook slowly and evenly just as Skarde had taught her.
“Now that we have shared so much with each other, I was wondering if I could ask you something.” Heat suffused her cheeks at the memory of her body against him.
“And what might that be?”
“Don’t take this the wrong way, but why did you get so angry when I asked if I could have any the other day, but afterward you didn’t seem to mind?” She pulled her fish back, inspecting the charred outed edge, and flakey inside and then nibbled away.
She noticed he didn’t even look up once, and only grunted. She was beginning to wonder if that was his standard reply for most things.
“I need the varduush for my health. I had gone without catching any when you had asked, but the gods seem to favor me as late. The catches have been well, even more so now that I have finished my net, but soon I will not be able to catch any at all when the weather gets colder and the fish swim downstream.”
Delilah finished chewing the last bite with an extreme amount of guilt. “Wait a minute...you mean to tell me that you barely had any, but ended up giving me some afterward anyway.”
“Yes.”
“Why? I would have been happy to eat anything. If you need it, you shouldn’t give it to me. In fact, I don’t want you to give me anymore varduush.”
Skarde chuckled and it struck one of her nerves.
“I don’t see how you can laugh about this,” she replied worriedly. “What if you weren’t as fortunate and hadn’t caught anymore? I don’t need it as much as you do. I can eat anything else just fine. This better not be about my teeth again.”
“It’s not.”
“Hmph.” She turned her head away stubbornly and picked up her fibers again and twisted them. She still had a lot left to twist, and she didn’t want them getting any more tangled than they already were.
“I like that you worry about me, but your worries are wasted. I will be just fine. But seeing as you asked a question, it is only fair that I ask one as well.”
She could hear him moving around, but she still refused to look at him, knowing she was being somewhat childish. He was a grown adult and could do what he wanted, but that didn’t mean she had to accept what he gave her. It made no sense to feed her the darn varduush if he needed it for his health. If it meant she had to eat nuts and berries until they caught more red meat, despite the growing stores somewhere in the cave, then so be it. It wasn’t that big of an issue for her.
Something was placed by her feet. It was an armful of those fibers, crammed into a large sack.
“I did tell you I had more than enough; if you have need of these, you are welcome to them.”
Oh, she definitely had a need for them. The question was: would she ever get to it? Her fingers were cramping again, so she took a small break and massaged her hands. Knowing that heat helps with aches and pains, she then raised her palms up as close to the fire she could get without burning herself. To her relief, it didn’t take long before she could begin twisting again.
“So what is this question?” she finally relented and asked him since it was clear he was waiting on her.
“What do you know of the males that were chasing you? Will more come—”
Delilah froze, dropping the fibers to the ground. The question caught her off guard. Then her senses returned to her and she knew she was safe. Skarde wouldn’t allow other humans to come here; in fact, he’d probably kill them without question. Mentally realizing that she was probably safer with Skarde than anywhere else in the word gave her strength. Instead of retreating into her own mind, she gave him the answers he sought, at least to the best of her abilities. There was no reason not to.
“They were part of Bethania’s guardsmen. If they believe me to still be alive, they will come. They want justice for my father’s death. It’s unfortunate that a woman cannot defend herself or have a fair trial anymore, but nothing can be done about it. There are far too many men and they are stronger than us women. We are at their mercy.”
“Explain,” he urged with an ever deeper voice than his usual.
Delilah stood up and grabbed the broom to sweep away the dirt, dust and debris that blew into the cave earlier that day. “Women can’t own property or have money. It belongs to the closest male relative, who is allowed to punish them as they see fit for any reason they see fit.”
When she was finished with the sweeping, she moved a small pile of branches near their fire so they could add to it later when they needed to.
“Despicable. Female trolls would never allow such a thing. They are revered for their beauty, their spirit and their ability to bring new younglings to the tribe. It is a shame that your men are too foolish to see the worth of a female.” Skarde frowned deeply, then continued to sharpen his dagger.
He always seemed to be sharpening something, or crafting new tools from the bones he brought back from kills or had already stashed away. She presumed anything crafted from bone didn’t last as long as metal. It was rather unfortunate, but she knew nothing of metalwork and doubted Skarde cared enough to try. He seemed content with his way of life.
The way he pronounced “men” made her shudder.
“It sounds like my people could learn a lot from yours. It’s a shame they once considered you monsters. Only makes me wonder what the world would have been like if there never was a war. I’m sure that maybe somewhere there are still decent men, but they are drowned out by the ones not right in the head.”
“It seems to me all your males are not right in the head.”
Finished straightening up the best she could, she plopped back down on her furs. Her thoughts weighed heavily on her. On one hand, she wanted to agree with him, but she just couldn’t.
“I like to believe that times were good before my father changed. My memories of that time are slightly hazy, but I don’t recall seeing or hearing the atrocities that one might would today, especially in Betha
nia. However, back then women had more freedoms and liberties. Even the markets were more friendly. The naive part of me wants to believe that such places still exist, that my father and the other councilmen did not taint other towns with their arrogance and greed. I don’t know if it’s so much not being right in the head, but rather their need to fit into what has become the standard moral...at least for most of them. What caused my father to act the way he had, is beyond me, but Mathias and Roy? I think something a tad bit sinister took root in their heads.”
“Who are these Mathias and Roy you speak of?” He glowered.
The anger in his darkened eyes returned and she realized she could tell his mood or how he felt about something based on the way his nose would wrinkle, his brows would furrow, or his eyes would slightly change in intensity.
Shyness overcame her. “They were the ones you uh...took care of. I never thanked you for that. If you hadn’t intervened they would have raped me. They were so close…”
She trailed off. It was only a short while ago, but the agony of that moment would forever be etched in her mind. To have someone you thought you trusted, try to defile you in such a horrific way.
“But that’s not even the worst part. They said something about bringing me to a relief house. About Guardsman Miller having plans for me and sharing me around...that man has been after me since I reported his son for trying to...take advantage of me in the village. Mathias planned it. He planned it all. He wanted me for himself and had this guy try to kidnap me so they both could use me, but he couldn’t wait and forced himself upon me in the middle of the village. Mathias...used to be a friend–”
Growling right beside her had her shifting her focus. Skarde had stood up and packed his spear and dagger, and was heading toward the mouth of the cave, heading out into the darkness.
She didn’t even have a chance to put her shoes on, or the mind to think of it as she followed him into the forest trying to catch up. “Skarde! Where are you going?” she shouted at him before he disappeared between the trees.
Of course, he didn’t respond. It only made her move faster. Sure it wasn’t the smartest idea to travel late at night, but something had clearly upset him enough to leave abruptly without a single word.
When she took her next step, she yelped loudly at the extreme stinging pain that turned her foot almost numb. “Skarde! Wait up.”
A moment later he returned with his wide, but flattened nostrils scenting the air deeply. “You are bleeding,” he growled as he strode in her direction, closing the distance between them.
“Of course I am!” she replied in frustration, her eyes trailing his movement until he stood right in front of her, glowering deeply. “I followed you out here like a madwoman who lost her mind because I didn’t bother putting my shoes because I would have lost you and I stubbed my foot on something sharp.” What started off as a voice of steel ended in a soft whimper as she placed her hand on his looming shoulder so she could balance herself and check her foot.
His head dropped slightly in what she took was shame, but she had no presence of mind to care for it, not when he was acting strangely.
Her hand slid higher when he hoisted her up into her arms and carried her back to the cave. “You will not follow me again, female,” he snarled as he gently slipped her body back onto the pile of soft furs before turning to leave, again, without a single word as to where and why.
Anger boiled through her body. Consequences be damned. “Skarde! What in the heavens are you doing? Where are you going?” she demanded answers from him in a loud, authoritative tone, one that her father might have used on her. One that would have caused her to be whipped all night long had she ever used such a strong tongue on anyone but Skarde, but that was beside the point.
They were a team now, or at least, that’s how she viewed it. She was his just as much as he was hers. She relied on him for survival, and he was keeping her alive because taking her life was the wrong thing to do, and as he admitted several times she proved to be useful in her own way.
So this growly nonsense would not stand.
He stiffened at the sound of her voice while both his ears twitched as he turned his head just enough to see the dark outline of the side of his face. “You will stay here. Do not attempt to follow me.”
Skarde took a single step forward before Delilah jumped to her feet. Her one good foot wobbled in protest as she balanced her weight delicately to not further injure her other one.
“The heck I will!” she blared.
Skarde whipped around so fast her eyes nearly missed the blurry movement. His golden eyes spoke. “Do not make me tie you up.”
What the heck had happened? She was so confused as to how his mood deteriorated to the beast he became, but she wasn’t afraid of him any longer. She would not cower because she knew who he was and what he was capable of. He could snip and snarl in her face all he wanted, she would not relent. If something was this upsetting, she wanted—no, she needed—to know what it was, because chances were high that whatever it was, would affect her too.
“What the damn is this all about? I thought we’re having a rather nice evening now you’re acting like a barbarian snarling around, running through the woods late at night. Not telling me a single thing.”
“No. You do not need to know.”
“Yes I do,” she argued back.
When she stepped forward, Skarde looked down and frowned at her injured foot leaving a trail of blood across the floor. When she took another, he stormed in her direction, arms crossed tightly against his chest to halt her from moving any further.
“NO!”
“I can be just as stubborn.”
For a while they just simply stared each other down, waiting for the other to give up.
Eventually, Skarde relented with a pain grunt. “You will not like it.”
“Perhaps, but that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t know what’s going on around here. I’m not useless, I can help.” She softened her voice, now that he was finally giving in to her demands. Not that she had many, but she firmly believed that they needed to trust each other and not keep the other out of the loop.
“It’s not that.”
“Then what is it?”
“I was going to find this Miller, his son and any other enemy and slay them for dishonoring you,” he finally revealed quietly, his chin tilted away from her so she couldn’t see into his eyes.
She wasn’t sure if he did it because he was ashamed or guilty, but she needed to know. Lifting her hand, she touched his chin and motioned him to look at her. His eyes were filled with everything. Anger, shame, guilt.
Her breath hitched. For some unexplainable reason his revelation blossomed warmth in her chest. This brooding troll wanted to defend her honor. He wanted to stop anyone who would harm her in their tracks and prevent them from ever doing so again. Like it was his personal goal to make her safe. No one had ever cared for her like that before.
Before she could process what she was doing, the hand that held onto his chin, slipped behind his neck, pulling him down. The pain in her foot was but a whisper of an old memory as she closed her eyes and stood on tiptoes, meeting him halfway before she pressed her lips against his.
Chapter Nineteen
Skarde
Time stood still the instant her soft human lips pressed against his own rough ones causing him to groan. His mind whirled in a frenzy, hastily changing from bloodlust and revenge to gain back his human’s honor to something else entirely. He briefly thought back to when he first saw her nude, bathing in the river. Full, rounded breasts with their dusty pink tips pointing at him, beckoning him to grace them with his presence. How we wanted to touch them then, was nothing compared to badly he needed to touch them now. To suckle them into his mouth, twisting and teasing them and bringing her to pleasures she’d been denied.
Pleasure that I’ve been denied too, he reminded himself.
Must to his dismay, his shock and frozen tension must have displayed
disinterest to the only female capable of capturing his heart and soul so quickly she would devour him whole if she didn’t slow down.
It was not a moment later when he was about to further their kiss that she withdrew her small hands and soft lips from him. Her eyes widened in embarrassment and horror.
“I’m sorry...I shouldn’t have done that,” she stammered through her shock, taking a step back. Her brows furrowed deeply while her nose scrunched as a pained whimper escaped from her beautiful mouth.
A mouth he wanted to taste.
Regretfully he tore his eyes from her face to look down, but to his dismay, he couldn’t see her wound. Not with the ’hem’ of her dress as she called it, in the way. Skarde’s stomach dropped, filling with remorse. If only he had not allowed himself to be blinded by rage, she would not have followed him outside and injured herself.
Humans are so easily damaged...how can I protect her when all it takes is one step for them to all apart?
Without a moment to lose, he reached for her with plans to remedy her wound before she would likely damage the area further. Then made a note in the back of his mind to be on the lookout for anything else that could cause his female harm.
“What are you doing?” she sputtered lightly, seemingly unsure of his intentions as she twisted and turned, trying to dodge his hands.
This not only frustrated him, but made him realize that in his moment of indecision, his lack of response made her unwary and uncomfortable. Presumably doubting her actions as well, and his lacking communication assuredly was making things worse. It’s not that he didn’t want to reply, it was just difficult when all he could think about was how to make her give him another kiss.
“Cease Delilah,” he replied firmly and held his hand in the notion that she did when she wanted him to stop what he was doing, or what he was saying. Then he grazed her cheek with a knuckle. “I simply wish to care of you.”
Her wide blue eyes relaxed and she stopped avoiding him, then raised her arms up as a youngling would who wanted to be picked up. She was no youngling, but he understood. She was yielding to his desire to care for her, and that pleased him greatly.
The Lonely Troll Page 13